tataḥ prathamānantaraṁ dvitīyaḥ sādhu-saṅgo bhajana-rīti-śikṣā-nibandhanaḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.15)
“Then, following the first [stage, viz., śraddhā], a second [type of] association with a sādhu, that is, that the purpose of which is learning the practice of bhajana, occurs.”
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’tha bhajana-kriyā |
tato’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ |
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati |
sādhakānām ayaṁ premnaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.15–16)
“First śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga, then bhajana-kriyā, then anartha-nivṛtti, then niṣṭhā, then ruci, then āsakti, then bhāva, and then prema appear. These are the stages in the appearance of prema in a sādhaka.”
na hy anyatra spṛhā anyatra ratiḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgaminī-ṭīkā to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.41)
“It is not that there can be desire elsewhere and rati elsewhere.
tad-eka-spṛhatvam eva rater lakṣaṇaṁ mukhyam ity uktam |
(Durgama-saṅgamī-ṭīkā to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhi: 1.3.41)
“It is stated that desirousness only of him [i.e., Bhagavān] is truly the primary characteristic of rati [i.e., merely inner softness that manifests sāttvika-bhāvas, such as crying and trembling, is not the primary characteristic, since this can also be observed in persons engaged in impure forms of bhakti].”
śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā prema-sūryāṁśu-sāmya-bhāk |
rucibhiś citta-māsṛṇya-kṛd asau bhāva ucyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.1)
“That [i.e., that aspect of uttamā-bhakti] which is constituted of a special aspect of śuddha-sattva, is a bearer of resemblance to a ray of the sun of prema, and is a melter of the heart with hankerings, is called bhāva [-bhakti].”
tat-prema-śarmaṇāṁ sarvātiśayi-dharmatāyām aham api marma-vettā, yataḥ—
harir gopa-kṣauṇī-pati-mithunam anye ca vibudhā
na naḥ krūraṁ cittaṁ mṛdulayitum īśā lavam api |
aho teṣāṁ premā vilasati harau yas tu balavān
harer vā yas teṣu drutayati sa eva pratipadam ||
(Gopāla-Campū: Pūrva, 1.81; 64)
“Even I [who have a most hard heart] am able to understand the secret of the super-excellence of the bliss of that prema [found between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his companions]: Neither Hari, nor the King and Queen of the land of the cowherds [i.e., Nanda and Yaśodā], nor any other wise persons [of Vraja] are able to soften my hard heart even one bit. But aho! The powerful prema they express for Hari and that Hari expresses for them melts my heart at every step.”
yatra rāgānavāptatvāt pravṛttir upajāyate |
śāsanenaiva śāstrasya sā vaidhī bhaktir ucyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.6)
“That bhakti in regard to which the inclination [to enact it] arises only from the śāstra’s ruling because of [that inclination’s] not being acquired from rāga is called vaidhī.”
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā |
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.2)
“[When it is] To be accomplished by activity and that by which bhāva is to be accomplished, that [viz., uttama-bhakti] shall be known as sādhana [-bhakti]. Eternally accomplished bhāva’s manifestation into the heart is [the intended sense of] its being to be accomplished.”
mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.11–12; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.13–15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“‘[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] Bhakti which is an uninterrupted, causeless, and unobstructed flow of the mind—solely because of hearing my qualities—towards me, the Supreme Person, who dwells in the hearts [lit., “caves”] of all, like [the flow of] the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean, is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam |
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.11)
“Continuous action for [alt., related to] Kṛṣṇa possessed of favorability that is free from desirousness of anything else and unobstructed by jñāna, karma, and so forth, is uttamā (exalted) bhakti.”
